1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle motion control device configured to control the motion of a vehicle in which the vehicle motion control device is installed. More particularly, the present invention is related to a vehicle motion control device configured to calculate a target yaw rate required for the vehicle to arrive at a target position set in front of the vehicle, and to control the motion of the vehicle based on dynamic changes of the vehicle to generate the calculated target yaw rate.
2. Background Information
One example of this kind of vehicle motion control device is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-327151. The vehicle motion control device presented in the above publication is configured to prevent a vehicle from deviating from the lane in which the vehicle is traveling by controlling the motion of the vehicle to eliminate the angular difference between the movement direction of the vehicle and the direction of the lane in which the vehicle is traveling. The vehicle motion control device in the above publication is configured to detect the angle that will exist between the lane in which the vehicle is traveling and the direction in which the vehicle is traveling after a prescribed amount of time elapses or after the vehicle travels for a prescribed distance and to calculate the direction in which the vehicle should proceed in order to make that angle to be zero. The vehicle motion control device is then configured to control the motion of the vehicle such that vehicle travels in the calculated direction. The direction in which the vehicle should proceed is calculated as a target yaw rate and the target yaw rate is calculated and set such that the yaw rate to a target position set in front of the vehicle is averaged.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved vehicle motion control device. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.